Cia (Japanese: シアShia), the Black Sorceress (Japanese: 黒の魔女Kuro no Majo), is one of the primary antagonists of Hyrule Warriors, the main (antagonistic) character of the Cia's Tale storyline included within the Master Quest DLC pack, and a secondary protagonist of the epilogue included within Hyrule Warriors Legends. She is a wicked witch who was corrupted by darkness prior to the events of the game, and led an army of monsters in a war against Hyrule. A powerful user of the dark arts, Cia is capable of summoning Dark Links to do her bidding, though at the cost of using her own life force to do so.

Cia was released as a playable character in the version 1.3.0 update of the Wii U version of Hyrule Warriors. The Nintendo 3DS and Nintendo Switch ports of the game (Hyrule Warriors Legends and Hyrule Warriors: Definitive Edition) also include her as an unlockable playable character within the base game. She wields the Scepter weapon, which is of the Darkness element.

Contents

History

Spoiler warning: Plot or ending details follow.

Cia was originally the Guardian of Time tasked with watching and keeping the balance of the Triforce, Cia eventually began to harbor romantic feelings for the hero Link. These affections turned into jealousy towards Princess Zelda, a close friend of Link's. As Cia's resentment grew, she became vulnerable to the will of an evil being that was thought to have been sealed away long ago. With the light half of her soul driven from her body Cia was corrupted by the darkness in her heart. Cia and her two subjugated minions, Volga and Wizzro, now stand against Link, setting into motion a war within the kingdom of Hyrule.

Originally a person of morals, Cia has grown provocative and aggressive due to her corruption. She is not afraid to speak openly about her desires and thus has a strong sense of self. She wants to make the world and everything in it hers, especially Link.

Hyrule Warriors

Cia first appears in the Valley of Seers, beckoning Link and the Hyrulean Army to her. After they fight through her forces, including Volga and Manhandla, she ambushes their commanders, stealing pieces of the Triforce from Link and Sheik. Combining the pieces with the Triforce of Power in her possession, Cia opens the Gate of Souls, connecting it to three different worlds and freeing fragments of an evil spirit to empower herself.

With her plans in motion, Cia enters the Gate and arrives in the Twilight Realm. She uses her powers to transform Midna into an imp before allying with Zant and launching an attack on the local version of Hyrule. Unfortunately for Cia, Lana pursues her, allying with Midna and Agitha to defeat Zant in the Palace of Twilight. Following Zant's defeat, Cia appears to taunt her foes, only to be punched by Midna, shattering her mask and revealing that she looks remarkably similar to Lana.

After reuniting with her other allies, Lana reveals that she and Cia were once the same person. When Cia was corrupted by a dark force, her inner light and goodness were forced out of her body - Lana is the physical manifestation of that light. Meanwhile, Cia learns that her "master" is none other than Ganondorf, who had been using her to free his spirit fragments from their imprisonment. With three fragments freed, the Demon King was able to restore his body and attack Cia, hoping to claim the Triforce and unleash his full might. However, Cia fought back, restoring the Triforce of Courage and Wisdom to their rightful owners before using the Triforce of Power to seal Ganondorf between the dimensions.

Although Ganondorf had been defeated, the revelation that she had been manipulated drove Cia's anger and desperation to new heights. She redoubled her attacks on Hyrule while searching for new means of empowering her army and stopping Zelda's forces from advancing further. Following Wizzro's failure to stop Link from claiming the Master Sword, Cia waited in the Temple of Souls for the Hyrulean Army, formulating a new plan to stop them in their tracks. When Link confronted her, the dark sorceress drew upon his newfound overconfidence and pride to create a shadowy clone that was able to duplicate and reform itself endlessly. She promptly left when Ganondorf attacked the temple, looking to claim the Triforce before his enemies escaped beyond his reach.

When Link managed to overcome his own flaws and help the Hyrulean Army escape the Temple of Souls, Cia gathered all of her remaining forces in the Valley of Seers. Knowing that her enemies were closing in on her final stronghold, she began using her own life force to empower her soldiers, heedless of the risk to herself or Lana's growing concern for her safety. Even this proved insufficient against the Hyrulean Army, and Cia was defeated by their commanders. Already spread thin by her reckless use of dark magic, the final battle took the last of her energy, causing her to fall at Lana's feet.

In her final moments, Cia wondered how Lana endured the knowledge that their feelings for Link would never be requited. When Lana explained that she simply accepted the fact that Link's destiny would never intertwine with her own, Cia admitted that the White Sorceress was always her "better half" before fading away completely, allowing Lana to claim the Triforce of Power. Cia's defeat, and the Master Sword's earlier removal from its pedestal within The Temple of the Sacred Sword, allowed the final fragments of Ganondorf's sealed soul to escape its prison, allowing the Demon King to wreak havoc on Hyrule once more.

Hyrule Warriors Legends

Though initially presumed to have faded away entirely following her defeat at the hands of Link and the Hyrulean Army, Lana revealed to Link and Princess Zelda that she can still sense Cia's presence within the world following the appearance of the Era of the Great Sea within present-day Hyrule. A weakened Cia was later found, most of her power stolen by an unknown force, battling against a shadowy doppelgänger of herself - Dark Cia. Dark Cia aimed to drain the rest of Cia's remaining power for herself, and eventually replace the Black Sorceress in her entirety. Link, along with several heroes from the Era of the Great Sea (namely Tetra and King Daphnes), managed to defeat Dark Cia and rescue Cia's remaining powers, and together learn the identity of the one behind the appearance of the Era of the Great Sea, and the loss of Cia's magic: Phantom Ganon.

Though Cia was in a weakened state, she still allied herself with the Hyrulean Army to set Hyrule right once more and reclaim her strength. While she was unable to personally partake in battle for the most part, she used some of her remaining power to subdue the abilities of Phantom Ganon, allowing Link and his allies to defeat the ghastly demon once and for all, and retrieve Cia's lost strength. Once the phantom was defeated, and the world set right once more, Cia, having recovered her abilities, joined Lana to continue serving as the guardians of the Triforce, reclaiming the role she had initially held for millennia.

Fanon Appearances

Cia appears in Hyrule Heroes as a playable character. She fights with her staff and can use powerful magic. Her defense is poor but she is one of the strongest characters in the game in terms of damage output.